I pulled into the parking lot at The Alibi and immediately spotted Christian’s bike. The notion that I was right wasn’t as comforting as I’d hoped. I was downright miserable. I’d parked in the only spot I could find in the back with a cluster of cars. Like Christian’s, most of the bikes were parked in a long row out front. He obviously wasn't trying to hide that he was here. Then again, The Alibi was out of the way. I'd never had an occasion to drive by.

I’d been battling my inner demons since I’d left the garage, and couldn’t come up with a feasible explanation for anything that had transpired since I’d locked the door at the museum only hours before. But something deep inside told me it was all connected. I just didn’t know how. The only thing that made sense was that Christian had given me the option to walk away from the biker lifestyle, but hadn’t wanted to give it up himself. So he kept it from me. How the hateful notes and chess piece tied in remained a mystery.

I nodded at the few people who recognized and acknowledged me as I made my way to the door. Once inside, I stopped and slowly perused the room. “Tightrope” by Stevie Ray Vaughan was blaring so loudly I couldn’t hear myself think, and I wondered how people were even having conversations.

I spotted him almost immediately, and my heart sank. He was sitting at a table with his back to me. And Krystal, the waitress who’d avoided us after our first visit, was sitting on his lap. She had her arms wrapped around him, and was whispering something in his ear. Through blurred vision I noticed Debbie. She was sitting across from Christian, giving him a death stare.

It was obvious that he’d been cheating on me, and my friend hadn’t been avoiding me because we were no longer part of the biker scene. I had no doubt my husband had ordered her to stay away from me. I would’ve preferred a shotgun to the chest over what I was feeling. A mixture of anger, shame, sadness, and self-condemnation descended on me all at once. Debbie spotted me and started to rise. She was walking toward me when I turned around and headed back out to the parking lot.

Foolish, stupid, naïve, dumb. It was about the gang. It was about being Grizz’s daughter. That’s all I was to Christian. A trophy to display in front of his criminal friends. He wanted it all and had manipulated me into believing he loved me since we were children. It had all worked out to his advantage. He had a mother for his child, and he was vying for the spot of club leader. And he had me over a barrel. I was stuck. All he had to do was tell Blue that Grizz was alive. Tell anyone for that matter, and my world, as well as my family’s, would disintegrate.

He had to be behind the nasty notes, the chess piece. To what end? To make me think I was crazy? Gaslight, an Alfred Hitchcock movie where the husband kept convincing his wife she was insane, came to mind.

“Mimi! Mimi!”

I heard Debbie’s boots crunching on the gravel as she ran up behind me. “Mimi, I’m so sorry you had to see that.”

“Go away, Debbie,” I said without looking at her, my car yards away.

“You just have to accept it, Mimi. It comes with the territory,” she whined.

I swung around, my fists balled so tightly I was certain my nails were drawing blood from my palms.

“I don’t have to accept anything, Debbie, and if you think you do then you aren’t half the woman I thought.”

I could tell she didn’t like that comment because she took a step back and tried to compose herself. My words must’ve raised her hackles because after a moment she thrust her chin at me and said, “You must be a lousy lay or he wouldn’t have needed to start coming back here.”

I let the comment slide and asked, “Exactly how long has he been a regular?”

“Right after Thanksgiving,” she spat. “Coming around like he owns the place. I guess you told him about Blue selling Razors and he had to come back and show his ass. Couldn’t handle the thought of someone else taking over your father’s old club.”

She was right. Blue’s impromptu lunch invitation was the day after we’d returned from our Thanksgiving holiday. And I’d told Christian about it that night. But I was so caught up in describing Blue’s heartfelt apology, I’d forgotten to mention the call from the realtor.

Peace settled over me that could only be described as heaven sent. Christian wasn’t here because he wanted to be the club leader. And he wasn’t here to get laid. Christian loved me. He’d always loved me, and he reminded me of it every single day. I saw it in his eyes, I felt it in his touch. He could dissect my thoughts with a glance. He knew me better than I knew myself. And if he knew me that intimately, then I knew him too. And I knew he wasn’t here because he wanted to be. Debbie had said he started coming right after Thanksgiving. Right after our visit to the mountains. What if he was here because of something to do with my father? What if he was letting Krystal on his lap for show? I preferred that scenario over the others and decided I would walk back in and ask him to come home.

“Have you even heard a word I said?” Debbie screamed at me.

“No, I guess I haven’t. I’m going back in and getting my husband, and I’m going to ask him to come home with me." I shook my head slightly before adding, "Using the club as an excuse to step out on your woman isn't acceptable." I didn't know why Krystal was sitting on Christian's lap, but I also didn't believe that he was cheating on me, and only made the last comment as an encouragement to Debbie. She shouldn’t be putting up with Joe being unfaithful, if that was the case.

“Then you’re as brainless as you are barren,” she huffed. “No woman tells their man what is and isn’t acceptable.”

“What did you just say to me?” I asked, my eyes narrowed.

“You heard me,” she spat.

“You called me barren. How would you know that?”

“Because I told her.” The voice wasn’t familiar and I spun around and recognized the man who’d been with Nigel the night Christian had beaten him. He was leaning up against the car next to mine. His arms were crossed, and he was smoking a cigarette. What was his name again?

"Shut up, Dennis!" Debbie yelled.

Yes, that was it. Dennis.

There was a nervous edge to Debbie's voice when she asked, "And what are you even doing here? I thought you were arrested."

"Yeah, can you believe it? First time ever. And I've been sitting in there for almost eight days without a friend in the world to bail me out." He spit on the ground.

Debbie looked at the ground where he'd spit and said, "You should've called Nigel."

"I was in Tallahassee begging money off me sister. I lost a lot of income because of you and that fuckin' show you wanted to put on."

I immediately recognized the Australian accent. Turning to where the voice came from I saw Nigel walking up from between the cars. He stood with his hands in his pockets and cocked his head to one side. In a mocking voice he said, "You'll probably have to take a couple of punches to make it look real. But it'll be worth it. I'll make sure when Joe is club prez you'll move up the ranks."

Debbie began to stutter, and took a few steps back.

Before she could reply, Nigel said, "He put me in the fucking hospital. I couldn't work, and Blue tossed me out on me ass so I'm no longer part of the crew."

"You...you can be part of the club again when Joe gets promoted," she stammered.

"You don't think I haven't heard on the street about Bear showing back up here? He's gonna be prez and you know it. It all backfired on you. Even the notes you had Dennis leaving on her car didn't work." He paused and nodded toward me before finishing. "You said they would be a distraction and get under her skin enough so she wouldn't want anything to do with the club. You said that Bear loved her enough to walk away. Apparently, Grizz's daughter doesn't scare so easily and had a little more backbone than you'd anticipated."

"It was you," I interrupted, as my eyes cut to Debbie. "You were the one trying to railroad me this whole time. All because you thought Christian was gonna be made club leader?"

"Not because I thought it!" she cried. "Because I knew it. And you were so stupid, Mimi. You immediately thought Autumn was sending the notes. I tried to play along. I even hinted more than once that they could've been coming from someone here." She waved her hand back toward The Alibi. "But you were so focused on that stupid bitch, you could barely see past her."

That part was true. I was certain the hateful notes were from Autumn because she'd sent that letter so many years ago.

"All of this because you want Joe to take over the club for Blue?" I slapped my hand against my thigh. "You could've asked me, Debbie. You could've just been up front and asked if Christian was interested? If anyone is stupid, it's you."

"I did ask you, Mimi. I was always dropping hints, but you never said a word. You just smiled and pretended like you couldn’t have cared less."

I could feel Dennis and Nigel's eyes on us as Debbie and I went to war with words. Dennis even jumped in and cleared up some things that had been nagging at me. If this was just a small fraction of what it would be like to live the club lifestyle, I was more than glad I was out. Still, none of this explained why my husband was inside with Krystal on his lap.

"Enough of this bitching!" Nigel yelled. "I'm here on unfinished business."

I stiffened because I knew what was coming. He was mad for what Christian had done to him and I was going to be on the receiving end of his wrath. I scanned the parking lot. Not a soul in sight. I was a decent runner, but was I fast enough to get to the back door of the bar, and if I did, was it unlocked?

A couple of options were scrambling around in my head when Nigel walked menacingly toward Debbie. She placed her hand on her chest and said, "Wha..? What do you want?"

"I only came here tonight to tell Christian about your little scheme, and then ask Blue to take me back in the club. But having you right here in front of me with no witnesses." He paused and looked around the parking lot. "I think me plan has changed." His tone was low and menacing making his Australian accent even more pronounced.

He wasn't targeting me or Christian. He was after Debbie.

"Mimi is a witness," she said with more bravado than I knew she felt. "And why are you coming after me? It was her husband who beat you senseless. If anything, you should be taking it out on her."

Gee, thanks for that, Debbie.

"You're the one who told me to pick that fight with him. I'd never seen Bear in action before, and neither had you. You should've done your fucking homework. He beat me within an inch of me fuckin' life, and based on what you told me to say, he had reason to."

Then Nigel looked at me and said, "I was supposed to hurt Christian to scare you away. I think we all know how that shitstorm ended."

"You can't touch me," Debbie managed to squeak out. "Mimi will see everything."

"She has more reason than I do to want to see your arse in that boot," he countered as he pointed to an old Oldsmobile sporting a huge trunk.

I felt a shift in the air at the same time Dennis said, "Trouble."

Just like when I'd been getting ready to go up on stage to accept my diploma, I felt him. I didn't have to turn around to know Christian was coming up behind me.

Chaos descended as I tried to wedge myself between Nigel, Debbie, and an outraged Christian who came barreling at us with Joe and Isaac in tow. There was some initial shoving and shouting, but it was squelched before it got too out of hand.

Blue and some of his men had pulled up on their bikes at that point. He quirked a finger at me and said, "Come here." I walked toward him, grateful that I would be given a chance to explain without any bloodshed. Christian started to follow, but Blue said, "Not you. Not yet."

I heard Debbie snicker.

I don't know if it was her snicker or Blue's words that infuriated Christian. He stomped toward me and Blue and growled, "Nobody gives me orders. She's my wife! Not yours!"

Two of Blue's guys grabbed Christian, but Blue held up his hand to stop them. "It's okay. He's right."

Blue gave orders for his men to escort Nigel, Dennis, Debbie, Joe, and Isaac through the back door of The Alibi to wait in the storeroom. The same storeroom where Krystal had invited Christian all those months ago. The reminder of what I'd seen less than twenty minutes earlier slammed into my chest.

Christian and I followed Blue to the back office of The Alibi. Apparently the bar's owner, Ken, had no problem with Blue using it. After closing the door behind us he hefted his hip on the end of the desk and pointed to two chairs.

"Who wants to tell me what the fuck that was in the parking lot?"

I raised my hand. "I'll go first."